Finishing well

With the late Labor Day and our school starting AFTER Labor day, it feels like we have had a long summer.  Because we have.  It has been a great summer but the kids and I are itching for schedules and school again.  I am excited for hiking, fall fests, apple cider and routine.  But I want to end well.  I want to finish the summer strong.  And that means that we needed to cut out our sloth like ways in August because my middle child starts to lose it when we don't have routine.  So, while I really really really (REALLY) wanted to keep sleeping in, waking up with no plan, not doing a whole lot.....we needed to start to get back into a routine again.  Waking up a little earlier, going to bed earlier, chores, math sheets, and a good shot of nature is what Isaac seems to need to stay even.  If he gets off that routine for too long then he starts to lose it a lot and that makes the day no fun for any of us.

The last two weeks I have been determined to finish the summer well with the kids.  I have days where I have lost it but we have also had some fun times in the last few weeks.  Andie woke up today almost in tears because she wants to go to school.  She is excited about her teacher, classmates and 3rd GRADE!!  Isaac can't wait to have his own desk and locker and best friend in his class.  We are ready.  But to finish out summer we have spent many of our mornings getting a good shot of nature which has proven to be helpful for Isaac's moods.

So last week we got out early and hiked in a park in town.  We love hiking this one out to a floating bridge and then up to a neighborhood park.

These three....Love having pictures of them on this bridge.  This is the first hike we took while looking at houses in the area and it was the first time I really thought "ok....I think this will work" when looking at our new area we now call home.  Little did I know all the cool places to hike/bike/explore we would have waiting for us.

Hitting the zoo with my parents on this cooler week....

Saturday morning we eased into the morning a bit after a big week of work for Craig (first week of classes at the college is always the hardest for him).  With some fog and nothing to do we decided to head to one of our favorite places to explore/fish/play on the River.  We haven't been here all summer and Craig did some fishing while the kids built a lean-to shelter.  We have let them watch the tv series Alone a bit this summer.  We have all enjoyed it!    They have liked watching the guys set up shop in the woods by themselves and build shelter, catch food, find fresh water, etc.  Isaac said he was staying out there for a week and I believe he might make it until sundown.

Not too many plans this week but the weather is summer like.  Most of the pools have closed so time to go to our favorite lake/beach/county park for the morning.

And a hot afternoon spent at our children's museum is always fun too.

One of my favorite activities was this mornings.  We went to a Nature center nearby while they are tagging butterflies.  We were able to catch/tag/release 57 butterflies (we caught about 17 as a group).  It was really fun, educational, and I gained a new respect for these insects.  This is a 4th generation butterfly so the ones we released today will hopefully make it all the way to Mexico by flying over 50 miles a day.  Crazy!!

Off to Mexico.  I think we should make a trip down this winter to try to find our tagged butterflies.  All in the name of science right?

So not too many more days before school around here.  This is the first year I am feeling very ready for school to start and the kids are too.  It is nice to have 2 veterans to send off to school next week and I am starting to get to be a veteran too.  I will probably still cry as I usually do, but I am really excited about my one on one time with Caleb again.